Immigrant arrested on weapons charge

A state trooper arrested an undocumented Mexican immigrant last week in Carson County on an illegal weapons charge after the trooper searched a truck and found a 9mm pistol with its serial number ground off, court records show.

A Department of Public Safety trooper stopped a rented 2012 Dodge Durango on Nov. 24 because the trooper said the driver was speeding and following too closely, court records show. The driver, later identified as Jose A. Hyrtado, gave the trooper a Mexico driver’s license and a Mexican passport issued in another man’s name, a criminal complaint said.

The driver gave the trooper consent to search the Durango and the officer found a 9mm pistol concealed behind the driver’s side dashboard, a Special Agent for Homeland Security Investigations said in an affidavit.

A federal special agent ran the man’s fingerprints through a government database, which identified him as Hyrtado, who had previously been removed from the United States by immigration authorities, the affidavit said.

Hyrtado was charged with being in the U.S. illegally and possessing a firearm he didn’t have a right to possess.

Hyrtado, who originally was booked into the Carson County jail on a prohibited weapons charge, remains in custody pending further federal court hearings in the case. Hyrtado also used two other aliases, court records show.